The New IRA has offered 'full and sincere apologies' after its members shot dead journalist Lyra McKee in Londonderry - and has promised to 'take the utmost care in future'.

The apology and vow were made in a statement to the Irish Times which admitted responsibility for the killing.

The Republican splinter group said Ms McKee had died 'in the course of attacking the enemy' and insisted it would tell its members to 'take the utmost care in future'.

A New IRA gunman shot the 29-year-old journalist in the head on Thursday night, while targeting police during riots in the Creggan estate. The killing has been widely condemned across the political spectrum and sparked fears of a return to sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

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The statement read: "On Thursday night following an incursion on the Creggan by heavily armed British crown forces which provoked rioting, the IRA deployed our volunteers to engage.

"'We have instructed our volunteers to take the utmost care in future when engaging the enemy, and put in place measures to help ensure this.

A Police van is parked near graffiti which says 'IRA are done' and 'Defeated Army' after journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead last night on Fanad Drive on April 19, 2019 in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. (Image: (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

"The IRA offer our full and sincere apologies to the partner, family and friends of Lyra McKee for her death."

The New IRA - which has accepted responsibility for the murder of journalist Lyra McKee - is the biggest of the dissident republican groups operating in Northern Ireland.

It has been linked with four murders, including Pc Ronan Kerr, who was killed by an under-car bomb in Omagh in 2011.

The group is also linked to the deaths of prison officers David Black, who was shot as he drove to work at Maghaberry Prison in 2012, and Adrian Ismay, who died in 2016 after a bomb exploded under his van outside his home in east Belfast.